Clothespin



CLOTHESPIN Filed July 9, 1946 i/IL. C/zzmcfzz' I N V EN TOR.

Patented Apr. 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHESPIN William L. Churchill, Jr., Sutherland, Nebr.

Application July 9, 1946, Serial No.682,236

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to clothespins, and more particularly to that type of clothespin wherein a pair of spring-pressed clamping members are provided, the connection between the clamping members and spring member being such that the spring member will be loosely but firmly connected to the clamping members without exerting such pressure on the clamping members as to cause them to bind the articles t clotheslines, damaging the threads of the articles secured by the clothespin.

' An important object of the invention is to provide a clothespin of this character wherein the spring arms thereof are arranged to grip the clamping members, preventing twisting of the clamping members, to cause the clamping members and spring arms to be securely held together under strains directed to the clothespin, caused by wind pressure against the articles secured by the With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is an elevational view of a clothespin,

constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the pin taken at right angles to Fig. l, the clamping members being shown in dotted lines, as in their open positions.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the clothespin comprises a pair of opposed identically shaped and constructed clamping members 5, which are substantially long, the adjacent inner surfaces of the clamping members 5 being curved at their ends, so that the clamping'members may expand readily when they are positioned over a clothesline.

Associated with the clamping members, is a spring member which is formed of a length of spring wire material bent intermediate its ends to provide the coil 6, the ends of the wire material being extended laterally a at 1 from where the wire material is formed into arms 8.

The clamping members are formed with grooves 9 formed in the outer surfaces thereof, the grooves 9 being disposed at oblique angles with respect to the side edges of the clamping members, as clearly shown by Fig. l of the drawing.

The clamping members are also formed with transversely disposed grooves III, which grooves l0 communicate with the grooves 9, through the grooves l'l formed in the sides of the clamping members.

The arms 8 are so arranged that they will lie within the grooves 9, l0 and II, the ends of the 2 arms being curved as at I 2, and the extremities of the arms will be held in the grooves l3 formed in the opposite sides of the clamping members. It will also be seen that due to the manner of securing the arms 8 to the clamping members, the clamping members may pivot to their open positions as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawiiigs, when an article i positioned between the clamping members, the arms 8 remaining parallel.

From the foregoing it will be seen that due to this construction, the clamping members are $8- curely held to the arms 8 by the clamping action of the curved portions l2 and end portions M of the arm which clamp opposite sides ofthe members 5. This construction provides a connection between the spring arms and clamping members, which is loose, but at the same time firm, with the result that the clamping members are held in position without the necessity of placing excessive pressure on the clamping members by the resilient arms which form a part of the coil 6.

What is claimed is:

A clothespin comprising clamping members having transverse grooves disposed in their outer surfaces and communicating groovesformed inv grooves in opposite sides of adjacent clampingmembers extending inwardly from the side surfaces of said clamping members and extending diagonally across the outer surfaces thereof in oppositedirections terminating at the rear ends of the clamping members, a sprin member embodying a pair of spring arms and an intermediate coiled portion connecting said arms, said arms having right angled ends fitted in the transverse grooves and lying in the groove in the sides of the clamping members, portions of the arms resting in the grooves extending diagonally across the outer surfaces of said clamping members, and portions of the arms adjacent to the coiled portion overlying the rear ends of the clamping members, restricting movement of the rear ends of the clamping members with respect to'each other.

' WILLIAM L. CHURCHILL, JR-

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,491,941 Wood Apr. 29, 1924 1,992,863 Gardner Feb. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,800 Great Britain of 1910 84,055 Switzerland Feb. 2, 1920 

